


The Fallen Prince

by MeterMaid



Series: The Fell Star, Fallen Series [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Dimitri Week (Fire Emblem), F/M, Flashbacks, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Torture, Not Really Character Death, Prison, prison break - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:09:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28203642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeterMaid/pseuds/MeterMaid
Summary: Dimitri has been imprisoned for a crime he did not commit and he awaits his execution in the morning. He never makes it to the executioner. This is the story of Dimitri's escape from prison and the events that follow.This in an interquel to my story The Fell Star, Fallen. You do not need to read that one to understand this one. This takes place during and after the events of Chapter 14.Written for Dimitri Week 2020Day 1: MourningDay 2: Training GroundsDay 3: Overcome/DelicateDay 4: Final MomentsDay 5: Healing/ScarsDay 6: MistletoeDay 7: Free Day
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/My Unit | Byleth
Series: The Fell Star, Fallen Series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2066061
Comments: 8
Kudos: 37





	1. Mourning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reeling from his most recent loss, Dimitri mourns his love on the night before he is to lose his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 1 prompt: Mourning
> 
> I have never written for a challenge week before! This could be exciting, or it could be a dumpster-fire. Either way, we ought to have a lot of fun, right

Dimitri woke up on the cold floor and for a brief second, he forgot where he was. One second of peaceful confusion before his senses kicked in and he was hit full force with the realization of how much pain he was in. He tried to stand up and found he could not. Memories of the events that had just happened drifted into his mind like dreams. 

**_Cornelia stood in front of Dimitri as he kneeled on the floor of his prison cell. She ran her long cold fingers through his hair and pushed it out of his eyes. “Pity...you have such a pretty face.”_ **

He shuddered and remembered everything she had done to him. What she had ordered the guards to do. He could feel that the floor around him was slick, and the iron-rich scent told him he was lying in blood. The pain all over his body reminded him that the blood was his. He reached for his discarded, filthy trousers and put them on despite the fabric irritating the lacerations on his back, buttocks, and legs. He did not want to be naked if she came back a second time. He’d had enough of her taunting. 

**_Cornelia laughed. Her voice was mocking him. “...justice demands a price, and you must pay it. Now...what is that phrase?” She held up her dagger and traced it down the side of his face. Dimitri’s heart raced as he felt the cold of the steel against his cheek. “Ah, yes...an eye for an eye.”_ **

Dimitri remembered how Cornelia had told one of the two guards to hold his eye open. How his natural instinct to flinch and close his eye as he saw the point of the dagger coming toward it made them all laugh at him. 

**_“Keep it open…” Cornelia said, laughing. “Not that it really matters but I’d like to keep it whole if possible…”_ **

He tried not to remember what happened next and failed. The hot, searing pain of his eye being removed had dulled only a bit. He swore he could still feel the pain in his eye but knew that was impossible. His eye was gone. It was just another in the long line of things he had lost. 

Dimitri thought he had become accustomed to losing the things he cared about long ago, but two weeks had passed since he had lost Byleth and that was something he could not get used to. Felix had said he did not believe she could really be dead and while they scoured the canyon for any trace of her, Dimitri held out hope. He had seen her do so many extraordinary things, there was no way that something as simple as gravity could have killed her after everything, she had been able to survive. The hours ticked by and with every passing moment his hope dwindled. Regardless of what Felix believed, Dimitri knew the truth. 

He knew the truth and he hated it. Byleth was gone, dead. He knew it because the world felt different. It felt wrong without her in it. Everything in his life started to crumble when she fell. Cornelia had mentioned that Dimitri had been disappointingly easy for her to break. She did not understand that he was broken already. Byleth had given him hope for the future for the first time in years. Without her, well, without her he found himself hopeless, bleeding and broken on the floor of a jail cell, destined to die for a crime he did not commit. He cursed himself for believing, even for a moment, that he deserved anything more than a violent end. He cursed the world and the goddess and everything else he could and could not name that she had to suffer a violent end before he could die and spare her.

He would if he could. If he could call upon the goddess, he would ask that his life be traded for hers. That his death would balance the scales and allow her to return. But he knew that was not how things worked. He had tried haggling with the goddess years ago when his father died, and his offers fell on deaf ears.

His father. After Dimitri’s mother died, Lambert was a shell of himself for a long time. Dimitri had very little memories of his real mother. He was so young when she died, and he did not understand what it meant that she was gone. He only knew that he missed her smile and her warmth. What he did understand at the time, was that his father was sad. The king did not waver in his duties, but his face was blank when he sat in court with Dimitri by his side. He was still there but his smiles and warmth were gone too. His father withdrew into himself and it was a model that Dimitri would follow years later after Duscar. It was the only way he knew to survive what was happening to him now, and he was failing at that as well. 

Despite himself, even though he did not think he had anything left inside him, he began to cry. He cried for his mother, his father and stepmother, for Glenn. He cried for the faceless, nameless soldier on the field in Kleiman, dead and clutching a locket, and every other who had died by his lance. He cried for Sir Jeralt. He cried for his uncle Rufus and for his beloved kingdom. He cried for the future he had only recently started to think could be filled with anything but pain. He cried most of all for the woman he loved. For his Byleth, who had been the only reason he had dared to believe his future held promise. 

He tried again to stand, but it was impossible. Even when he steeled himself against feeling the agony on his back that came with each attempt at movement, he found he was off balance and he only made it as far as his knees before falling over again. Instead, he managed to drag his way to his cot on the floor and closed his eye. He was so tired. Tired of all the pain and all the losses he had suffered in his short life. In addition to everything else, he had lost his will to fight. In the morning, he would lose his head and then it would all be over. A quick swing of the executioner’s axe and he would be reunited with Byleth again. 

He almost looked forward to it. 


	2. Training Grounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Dimitri waits for morning he gets a visit from an old friend and fondly remembers a sparring match.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 2: Training Grounds

Dimitri had just crawled back onto the cot when he heard footsteps and voices. He closed his eye. He had thought Cornelia and the guards would leave him alone after what they had just done to him. He had hoped they would not be back until morning. 

He heard a familiar voice behind him, on the other side of the bars to his cell. 

“Dimitri...is that you?” Felix whispered harshly.

It sounded like the same voice that used to call out critique and give him praise on the training grounds. One of his oldest friends. Glenn. Dimitri was so used to hearing Glenn’s voice in his head. It sounded different on the outside. Glenn had been quiet through Dimitri’s ordeal. Only his father spoke to him to tell him how he had failed. 

Dimitri groaned. “Glenn…not you too, not now. I have heard enough. I understand.” He tried to focus on the figure outside his cell. He seemed shorter, but had the same face, the same inky blue hair. 

Felix shook the bars. “No, I’m not Glenn...I’m Felix. Listen to me. We are going to get you out of here. We just need to figure out how to get those cuffs off. We’ll be back tomorrow night and we are getting you out.”

“It is too late.” Dimitri mumbled; he groaned in pain as he stood up and leaned against the wall to keep from losing his balance and falling down again. He was in less pain now, but dizzier. He wondered if that meant the end was near. “You are too late, Glenn.”

"Dimitri…" Felix raised his voice through gritted teeth. 

Dimitri stepped away from the wall, limping into the moonlight. He did not know how he was able to stand. His legs were shaking, and he could still feel blood running down the backs of his legs. He did not know how much longer he would last. Without his crest to help his stamina he was fading fast. He remembered the day he first realized what a boon his stamina really was. 

***

**_Glenn had woken Dimitri up early that morning. They marched out to the castle’s training grounds and found them empty._ **

**_“Why are we out here so early?” Dimitri looked over the training swords and picked one up, swinging it to test it out._ **

**_“I have a plan, Your Highness.” Glenn levelled his sword at Dimitri. “Today, we are going to test the limits of that stamina of yours. We will spar until one of us calls the match.”_ **

**_“Your crest does not increase your stamina, only your strength. Logically, it will be you who calls the match, will it not?”_ **

**_Glenn smirked. “I was one of the youngest squires in kingdom history three years ago, when I was your age. I am well on my way to becoming a knight already. I think we may be well matched.”_ **

**_Dimitri hesitated. “Should we not wait for Felix to awaken? Surely, he would not want to miss this.”_ **

**_“I’m sure he’ll turn up sooner or later. On your guard.” He raised his sword and lunged at him. Dimitri did not have time to react and Glenn struck him with the flat of his blade._ **

**_“I was not ready.”_ **

**_“Well, get ready.” Glenn attacked again and this time Dimitri’s sword clashed against his._ **

**_He and Glenn had sparred for hours, one match after another. Sure enough, Felix did turn up about an hour after they had started sparring. He went back and forth over who he rooted for, his loyalty divided between his older brother and his best friend._ **

**_Hours passed and Dimitri lost far more matches than he won, but he did not tire in the least. It was clear that Glenn was wearing down. Still, fight after fight, Glenn managed to stand before him and raise his sword._ **

**_It was well past lunchtime when Dimitri asked for a break, seeing that Glenn was exhausted. “Are you not tired, Glenn? You look it. Why not call the match? We can go have lunch.”_ **

**_“Nonsense. I could go all day.” Glenn said, wiping his face with a towel._ **

**_“Go Glenn!” Felix yelled. “Go get him!”_ **

**_“You hear that, Your Highness?” Glenn shook his head, panting. “I can’t let him down. Besides, a true knight displays courage and will use every last bit of strength he has. A true knight is disciplined enough to never give up. Courage and discipline are hallmarks of chivalry.”_ **

**_“Generosity and justice are also part of the chivalric code. It would not be very chivalrous of me to force you to continue when my crest is making this fight so unbalanced.” Dimitri flipped his sword and held the handle out to Glenn. “We can call it a draw.”_ **

**_Glenn laughed and took the sword. He bowed. “You’re a good kid, Your Highness. You’ll make a great king someday.”_ **

***

Dimitri did not think he had any strength left to fight, but he had enough courage to try to stand up for at least a moment and face his friend one last time in this life, before meeting him again in the next.

"Look at me! It’s me...Felix. Are you listening to what I'm saying?" Dimitri squinted with his one good eye to try to focus his vision. Felix? Impossible. If Felix was there that meant there was hope. Dimitri did not want hope anymore. He wanted to die and be reunited with his loved ones, not to be rescued and forced to continue to live without them. He took a step closer to the bars but could not bear to take a second step. The pain had returned. 

"Oh...shit." Felix bit his lip. Dimitri raised his head and his hair fell out of his face. Felix clenched his fists around the bars. "What the fuck...what did they do to you?" 

"Nothing I did not deserve." His voice was hoarse. "I did not kill Rufus, Glenn...but my father is right. I am a wretch all the same, and I deserve to die for my failures. I could not avenge you; I could not save her. I cannot do anything. Do not waste your time or endanger yourself trying to save me again. My life is worthless." 

Without waiting for Glenn to respond, Dimitri limped back to the dirty cot on the floor and flopped back down. 

"Wait...come over here I can try to heal you. It will help." Felix whispered. Dimitri could hardly hear the voice now. It sounded far away. 

"Come on...I don’t know Physic; I can’t heal from a distance…you need to come closer.” Felix banged on the bars. “Please, Dimitri…you can't give up, you stupid idiot!"

"There is no point in healing a dead man, Glenn. It is all almost over anyway. I am ready for it to be over. I deserve for it to be over." Years ago, Glenn had told him he would make a great king someday. He had believed him then. He was thankful he would never get the chance to prove him wrong. 

As Dimitri lay down, he pictured himself out on the training ground. The walls of his cell disappeared, and he was looking at the night sky. Instead of his cot he was lying on the dirt floor and looking up at his opponent. He lay and waited for the killing blow and ignored Glenn’s voice calling for him both outside his cell and inside his head. 


	3. Overcome/Delicate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Dimitri's energy fades, he finds comfort in his memories of Byleth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Overcome/Delicate

After a few moments, Dimitri could not hear Glenn’s voice outside of his cell anymore. His voice was being overpowered by the voices of everyone else still in his head. He tried to focus on them to distract himself from the pain he was feeling. Standing up had taken more energy out of him than he had thought. 

_“It will not be long now, son. You will be joining us soon.”_ His father’s words were far more lenient than anything he had said to him in years; his tone was kind. _“Your chance to avenge us has passed. Perhaps someone else can avenge us all.”_

His uncle followed. _“I agree. I do not believe you will live to face the executioner in the morning. It is for the best. It will be more peaceful for you this way than whatever Cornelia has planned.”_

 _“Close your eyes, Dimitri.”_ His stepmother sounded almost as kind as he once remembered. _“Rest until it is time. The end of the Blaiddyd line is an end to your suffering.”_

Dimitri nodded. He closed his one good eye and found that he could still lower his eyelid on his right side, although it hurt to do so. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears and thought he might faint, but he decided he did not want to open his eyelids again. Everything around him was blurry and he was getting dizzier anyway. Instead, through the agony he was in, he thought about Byleth. He wanted to think of her while he still could. 

_“She did not come to you as a ghost.”_ Glenn said. “ _You will have to seek her out on the other side yourself.”_

Dimitri would seek her out if it took him an eternity to find her. For now, he only had to think about her, and she was there. It was the same routine he had gone through on the nights when they searched for her after she fell. He went through every interaction they had from the moment he met her till they parted the morning of the battle, not wanting to forget a single conversation, a single touch. He wanted to remember every smile, starting with the first. 

***

**_Dimitri had rushed back to Professor Jeritza’s room after carrying Manuela to the infirmary and leaving her with the other healers there. He was shocked to see that his classmates and Byleth had explored the tunnel in the wall and found Flayn. He was even more shocked when he was told about the fight that had occurred and the mysterious Death Knight they had faced, along with a visit from the Flame Emperor. He despaired that the Flame Emperor had appeared, and he had not been there to fight, but he was glad to see that Flayn was safe and his classmates unharmed. He could not deny that he was most relieved that Byleth had not been hurt._ **

**_Byleth sent Mercedes, Dedue, and Annette to take Flayn and Monica to the infirmary, leaving the two of them alone. He clenched his hands into fists to keep from reaching out to her. This was no time to be overcome by his feelings. She noticed, of course, and reached out to touch his arm._ **

**_“Are you alright, Dimitri?” She asked._ **

**_“I am... I am sorry, Professor. I am so relieved. I suddenly felt weak.” She did not need to know that he was weak in the knees and the reason had nothing to do with the events of the day, and everything to do with the fact that she was wearing her summer uniform that day._ **

**_“I’m also relieved. Seteth just started to warm up to me. Maybe I’ll be able to get a smile out of him now.”_ **

**_“He will be thrilled I am sure. I could not be happier with how things turned out. And I imagine nobody will be more overjoyed than Seteth.”_ **

**_Byleth nodded. She took a deep breath and smiled. She smiled. He felt breathless. It was as if he had been struck in the chest with something heavy. She was saying something, but he could not hear a word over the volume of his heartbeat. He had never seen her smile before._ **

**_“Hmmm. Hey, Professor.” He was talking and he could not stop himself. “Can you make that expression one more time?”_ **

**_“What expression?” She laughed a bit, her smile returning. He pointed at her face._ **

**_“That one...I do not think I have ever seen your face like that.” He chuckled and kicked himself internally for not being able to hold in his thoughts. “I apologize. I have forgotten myself and come dangerously close to teasing you…” She raised an eyebrow at him, and he felt himself blush. “It is just I have never seen you look so happy before. It is downright mesmerizing.”_ **

**_Mesmerizing?” She shook her head, and he was pleased to see that she smiled even bigger. “Now I know you are teasing me.”_ **

**_“I am not. I promise."_ **

**_“It’s ok, Dimitri. You can tease me if you want, later though.” She reached down and took his hand. “For now, let’s go tell Seteth the good news!” She pulled him through the door of Jeritza’s room, and they ran through the monastery like the children they taught swordplay to._ **

**_She never let go of his hand as she led him through the grounds and in that moment, he realized three fundamental truths at the exact same time. He realized he never wanted to let go of her hand. He realized it was too late for him to worry about being overcome by his feelings. He realized was already in love with her._ **

***

Thinking of her was bittersweet, like the combination of chamomile and honey he remembered so fondly from his youth. The fact that he was fortunate enough to meet her, know her, and love her, felt like a small victory. He may not have achieved all his goals, but maybe his life had held some meaning in loving her. Loving Byleth was his greatest accomplishment in a life where he felt that he did not have many other accomplishments to compare it to. 

Still, as much as it helped him to recall the times they spent together, he could not deny that the memories also stung. He knew that as long as he breathed, as long as he could still remember, their love would still exist. It made him want to fight back, but he also knew he was too weak to move any longer, and that is the part that hurt the most. 

Instead, he fell back into his memories, reliving the night in her quarters when she healed him and helped him sleep soundly for the first time in years. That night, his love for her was so strong it felt unshakable. He never had the chance to tell her, but he believed that her faith magic worked better on him than it did on anyone else because of the power of the love that they shared. Dimitri had thought their love was powerful enough to banish his darkness, and for a brief time it did. But now Byleth was gone and he would soon be gone as well. There would be nobody left to remember. With both of them turned to dust, their love would also be scattered to the winds and consumed by time. Dimitri found it strange that a force as powerful as love could also be so painfully delicate. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note for those of you who are reading Fell Star, Fallen: You'll notice Dimitri's ghosts are much nicer to him here. That is because at this point he is dying. His brain, which is usually full of darkness and anxiety, is trying to prepare him for that. 
> 
> **Bonus points for anyone who caught the Hamilton reference!


	4. Final Moments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dimitri spends his final moments in jail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I fell behind! Here is day 4. Better late than never, right?
> 
> Prompt: Final Moments

Dimitri was dying. He had been near death once before, in Duscur, and he figured he was much closer now. Lying on the road running through that burning village in Duscur, with an axe in his back no less, he was still in better condition than he was now. In Duscur, he could feel the heat from the flames and the pain from his injuries; he could see and hear everything clearly. Dimitri knew he was closer to death now because he could not feel the pain anymore. The moonlight was still shining brightly outside his cell, but each time he opened his eye, his surroundings seemed dimmer. 

He wondered if he was going into shock. Dimitri had passed his certification for Holy Knight, so he knew a little about healing and what the symptoms of shock were, even if he did barely scrape through the faith portion of his exam. He tried to assess his condition. His breaths were quick, labored, and shallow. His heart was racing. He could hear it beating in his ears. A low, distant, booming sound with no discernible rhythm. He determined that he would probably lose consciousness soon. When he did, he knew he would not wake again.

There was a small part of him that was afraid of what was to come, but mostly he was ready. Every breath he took that was not his last felt like a disappointment. He was prepared to leave this place behind. The booming in his ears got louder and louder until he realized the booming was outside his head. 

He heard voices shouting and thundering footsteps in the distance and he absently wondered who they belonged to. 

"I found him! This way!" A voice he did not recognize was outside his cell. 

He dared to open his eye. He saw a group of figures outside the bars and heard banging and wrenching iron. Dimitri squinted and tried to focus on what was happening. Someone was trying to break open the door of his cell. If it were the guards or Cornelia, they would have keys, so he knew it could not have been them. He was torn between hoping for rescue and wishing it was vigilantes loyal to his uncle coming to exact their own justice. 

There was a loud clank, followed by the squeaking of the hinges of the door. He heard the footsteps approaching his cot and looked up to see the figures coming closer. His breathing, already erratic, approached hyperventilation. He heard voices speaking but the sounds did not coalesce into words that he understood. 

His mouth was opened, and a liquid was poured down his throat. He felt energy course through him and knew it had been a vulnerary that he had been given. Part of him wanted to laugh. He was far past the point where a simple vulnerary could heal him. He heard the voice of the person who had given it to him speak again. He still did not understand the words, but the voice, the voice was familiar. He was given another two vulneraries. He allowed them to put a shirt on him and drag him to his feet. A cloak was thrown over his shoulders and a piece of cloth was held against the right side of his face; his hand was put in place to hold it there. 

“Your Highness....Your Highness?!” Dimitri finally understood the words being spoken by the familiar voice to know it was speaking to him. He also realized who it was. 

“Dedue?” Dimitri’s throat was raw, his voice barely audible even to his own ears. 

“Yes, Your Highness.” Dimitri staggered in surprise. “Can you stand?” 

Dimitri shook his head, the motion making him dizzy. “Who...who are these others?” He tried to look around. The other two men in the room were in focus but he did not know who they were. 

“This is Amilcar and Thiago.” He motioned to the others. “They were part of the group of Duscurian rebels we helped a few months ago. There are more outside. I will explain in more detail later. For now, we need to get you out of here. Three vulneraries were not enough; we need to get you to a healer.” Dedue spoke to the others in the group as Dimitri tried to fight his queasiness and pain enough to stand on his own. When it was clear that he could not, Amilcar and Thiago each stepped up to Dimitri and held him under an arm, practically lifting him off the ground as he tried, in vain to help walk on his own.

“Why?” Dimitri asked, looking at the two Duscurian men. “Why would you risk your lives to help me?”

“We do not help you out of kindness, Prince of Faerghus.” Thiago spoke. “You once spared our lives during a fight against the Kingdom army and allowed us to flee when death was certain. With our help to you here and now, our debt to you has been paid.”

“Someone is coming! We need to hurry!” A voice yelled from down the corridor. 

They pulled Dimitri along and rushed down the corridor and out the door into the night air, with Dedue leading them. He could hear other people approaching. 

“It is the guards.” Dedue said, raising his axe. “There are many of them. They must know we are here.”

“We will have to fight our way out.” Amilcar said to Dedue. 

“No.” Dedue shook his head. “His Highness will not survive a fight in his condition. Get him to the safe house. I will hold them off and meet you there if I can.”

“No!” Dimitri yelled. “You cannot stay behind alone. They will kill you for letting me go. It is not worth it.”

“Saving you would make it worth it to me, Your Highness.” He turned to the others. “You know what to do.” Amilcar and Thiago pulled Dimitri away as Dedue rushed forward and began to fight the castle guards. Dimitri tried to stop their retreat, but as injured as he was, and with the cuffs still dampening his crest, the other two men overpowered him easily. 

Dimitri could hear the clanging of weapons behind him. He heard Dedue scream and his heart dropped. Panic coursed through his body. “We have to help Dedue...I cannot leave him behind.” Dimitri wailed. He could not let his friend die in his place. He could not lose another loved one when he should be the one to go. Amilcar and Thiago paid no attention to his protests as they led him to the shadowed corner of the garden where they helped him get over the castle wall. Dimitri was hysterical as the men on the other side of the wall caught him and tried to subdue him.

_“It will be alright, Your Highness.”_ Dedue’s voice echoed in Dimitri’s head. _“I will always be with you now.”_

Dimitri stilled. His knees gave out and the ground rushed up to meet him. Everything went black.  
  
  



	5. Healing/Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dimitri gets medical attention after escaping from prison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should really be working on the main story, but I want to finish this first! 
> 
> Prompt: Healing/Scars

When Dimirti awoke next, he was laying on a wooden surface and his back was on fire. At least, it felt like his back was on fire. He raised his head and saw a woman leaning over him. He groaned.

“Ah, you are awake. I was hoping you would sleep longer. The less you are awake for this, the better.” The woman walked away from him and busied herself rustling the contents of a cupboard. He looked around as best he could and determined he was lying on a kitchen table. “I do not have much in the way of medicines, but I can give you a little of this. It will help you rest.” 

She held a vial to his lips and content that she was not trying to poison him, he drank it. Whoever this woman was, it seemed that she was trying to help him. “Who...are…where…” He coughed. 

“Do not try to speak, Prince of Faerghus. Save your strength. At least until we can figure out how to get these off.” She touched the cuffs around his wrists. “I am sure you have many questions. My name is Evora. Thiago is my husband. He and Amilcar brought you here last night. We are in a safe house near the capital. It is just after dawn. Your friend Dedue has not returned yet.”

He had heard Dedue among his ghosts a few hours ago; he knew that he would not return. Tears sprang to his eyes. Both eyes. He tentatively reached a hand up to his face and felt a piece of cloth where his eye used to be. Tears were rushing underneath it. “What…how? How am I crying?” He knew it was an odd question, but Evora only nodded. 

She pressed a handkerchief to his cheeks and wiped his tears. “Your tear ducts are still intact. Your wound was not as bad as it looked. Your eye is gone, but whoever took it knew what they were doing; it was a clean cut. I am sure it is not a comfort now, but the eyelid and surrounding area were unharmed. You may not even bear a scar on the outside.” She sighed and pressed on the compresses all along the backside of his body. Cold sensations pushed through the burning heat on his back, bottom, and legs and he twitched in pain and groaned. “I cannot say the same of this. Even if I had magic to help the healing, I am afraid you will bear scars from these injuries for life.” 

Dimitri knew all about bearing scars on his back, so that was nothing new. He did wonder, however, how long he would have to live while bearing them. Only a few short hours ago he was convinced he was dying, and he had mentally and emotionally prepared himself to do so. Now he had been pulled back into the land of the living. He was not sure he wanted to be there or if living was worth it.

If it was truly after dawn, he had missed his date with the executioner. They must know he was gone, and they were probably looking for him. He would not be able to stay here much longer. As soon as they found a way to remove his cuffs, he would need to leave. We refused to endanger these people any further. 

“I am going to go outside for a moment and gather some fresh snow.” Evora said as she continued to press on the compresses. “This batch is starting to melt. Relax and let the sedative do its job.” He heard her walk away and slipped back into darkness. 

*******

**_He dreamed of Byleth. They were in the training grounds at Garreg Mach together and she was standing behind him, pulsing healing magic into his back, her fingers brushing lightly over his ruined skin. She was crying._ **

**_“I’m sorry. I should have been there.” Byleth hugged him from behind and he felt her healing energy flow from her body directly into his from every place where her skin touched him. “I love you, Dimitri.”_ **

**_He felt the pain lessen as the magic flowed through him. She stepped around him and embraced him. He put his arms around her and kissed her. He felt his blood course through his veins like a rushing river and tightened his hold around her as his strength returned._ **

**_***_ **

When he woke next, he was still lying on his stomach on the table, but he was no longer wearing the cuffs. With his strength starting to come back, he felt better, even though the pain had not lessened in the least. He looked around and saw that he was alone in the kitchen. There were voices on the other side of the door. He took a deep breath and forced himself to stand up. 

His body screamed at him. The pain in his back was excruciating and all his muscles ached to keep it company. Whether the new aches were because of the physical trauma of being whipped, or the fact that he had been lying on a hard wooden table for the better part of a day, he did not know. He looked around the kitchen and located a set of clothing that had been set on a chair. They were a little big for him, but they were warm and free of bloodstains, so he could not complain. He put them on, and his eye landed on the cloak on the back of the chair. 

It was bright Faerghus blue topped with black and white wolves’ fur. He knew without looking that the back had King Loog atop his famous griffin embroidered on the back in silver thread with the Crest of Blaiddyd underneath it. He knew because his father had worn that cloak every day for years. Dimitri had memories of hiding underneath it as a child. He was supposed to inherit it on his coronation day. A day that would now never happen. He brushed the soft fur with the tips of his fingers and wondered how it got there. He wondered if he deserved to wear it. 

_“Of course, you do not deserve it. Nonetheless, like the kingdom it is rightfully yours.”_ His father growled at him. “ _Take it, get our vengeance, and take our kingdom back if you survive.”_

Dimitri winced as he struggled to put the heavy cloak on. Every movement was torment on his back. He walked through the kitchen door and into the living room where he saw Evora, Thiago, and a few other Duscurian soldiers sitting and talking. Evora stood up. 

“You are not finished healing. Get back in there.”

He shook his head. “No. I cannot. I must go now. You have done enough for me.”

“You almost died. More than once.”

“But I did not...and I thank you for that.” He looked down at the floor. “I am grateful to you all for your help, but I cannot stay a moment longer. You are not safe so long as I am here. The ones who hurt me are sure to be searching for me. You know it to be true. I will not allow any of you to be hurt simply for harboring me.”

“You will not be able to convince him, Evora. Let him go if that is what he wants.” Thiago stood and walked over to Dimitri. “You will not survive without some armor and a weapon. Come with me.” 

Dimitri followed Thiago to another room, and he stood awkwardly as Thiago fitted him a set of mismatched armor pieces, giving him almost everything except a backplate. 

“Try not to get into any fights until your back heals more.” He said as Dimitri winced while putting his armor on. 

“I will try.” He picked the cloak back up but did not put it back on. “Where did you get this?”

“It was cold, and you were not wearing much. You were shaking. That cape was hanging on a hook outside your cell, so we grabbed it. Is it yours?”

“It belonged to the king...to my father.” Dimitri held it and stared at it. “I wonder why it was there.”

“Well, that woman in charge, she executed someone today who had your face. If I did not know that you were here half-dead on my kitchen table, I would have thought it was you. I think she was going to make you wear it to your execution.”

Dimitri blanched at the mention of Cornelia. “The person they executed looked like me?” Thiago nodded. 

His spirits sank even further. It was likely that everyone thought he was dead then. Everyone except those who were chasing him. He looked at the cloak again. Wearing it might be a bad idea. It was not exactly inconspicuous. Anyone in Faerghus would know it was the King’s cloak. Everyone in Fodlan would know it was from the kingdom. It even had his crest on it. Wearing it would make him even more of a target. 

_“Wear it.”_ His uncle said. “ _It will draw those you need to kill to avenge us to you. Whether you kill them or let them take you out of your misery is up to you.”_

Dimitri put on the cloak and said his goodbyes to the group in the living room. Evora handed him a leather knapsack. “Some food and supplies, and what little gold we could spare.”

“You do not have to…”

“Shut up and take it.” 

Dimitri took the bag reluctantly and walked out into the cold. Even in mid-spring Faerghus was still frigid and snow-covered. He took a deep breath and started walking. He did not know exactly where he was, but he knew where he needed to go. He gripped the steel lance that Thiago had given him. It would be a long journey, but he needed to find his way to Enbarr. He needed to get to Edelgard and get his revenge, only then would he be truly healed.


End file.
